If you are a newbie WordPress website developer or still learning WordPress, then here is a list of some of the common errors that you could face while developing your website using WordPress along with their solutions.
#1 Internal Server Error
This is among the most common problems seen with WordPress developers who are newbies. I have covered this topic already in one of my previous blogs on ‘how to fix the problem of Internal Server Error in WordPress ‘.
The solution to the problem of ‘Internal Server Error’
The first thing to check when you encounter this issue is probably your .htaccess website which you can find at the root of your server. You may rename your .htaccess file and check if your website is able to load again or not. If it does, then you must generate a new .htaccess file by going to Settings » Permalinks and clicking the save button if it doesn’t then you must increase the PHP memory limit of your server by performing the below steps:
(i) Create a blank text file with the name php.ini
(ii) Paste this code in there: memory=64MB
(iii) Save the file
(iv) Upload inside /wp-admin/ folder using FTP
Even if after increasing the PHP memory limit of your web server, your website doesn’t load, you can consider replacing the core files of your WordPress website setup with a fresh set of files. The last attempt you could do to tackle this problem is to deactivate/rename all of your WordPress plugins and activate them one by one. Sometimes, recently installed plugins may cause your website to show up this error.
#2 Error Establishing A Database Connection
As the error message explains itself that your website is not able to establish the database connection which could be due to:
a) Problem in wp-config.php file
b) Issue with your web hosting
c) Malicious codes on your website
The solution to the problem of “Error Establishing A Database Connection”
a) Editing the wp-config.php file
The first attempt to resolve this issue must be to edit and make sure that all the credentials inside the wp-config.php file are correct. In the first place, it should fix the problem.
b) Issue with your web hosting
If the wp-config.php file shows the correct credentials now, then you must check with your web hosting provider to check at their end if the database server has no problem or if there is no quote issue with your database server.
c) If (a) & (b) don’t resolve the issue, then your website may be compromised. You must run a scanner to check whether your website has been compromised or not. You may use tools like “Sucuri Sitecheck” to check and if you get a confirmation that your website has got hacked indeed, then you must seek the assistance of a WordPress designer to handle this problem professionally.
#3 Connection Timed Out Error
There could be 3 major reasons for this problem:
a) Plugins issue
b) Themes issue
c) PHP memory limit issue
The solution to the problem of ‘Connection Timed Out’
In order to resolve the issue of the ‘Connection Timed Out’ Error, you must perform one or all of the below actions:
a) You must deactivate the recently installed plugins on your WordPress website and check the website by enabling the plugins one by one. If your website doesn’t show the error ‘Connection Timed Out’ anymore, then you must consider finding an alternative culprit plugin.
b) You must deactivate the current/existing theme of your WordPress website and try to activate the default theme of WordPress like ‘Twenty Twelve’.If this resolves the problem, then you must check with a professional WordPress developer to fix up the problem for you.
c) You may want to increase the PHP memory limit to 64 as I showed above.